John Clay's Sidelines

(H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)

Ten stats/notes from Kentucky’s 31-27 win over Louisville:

• Kentucky rushed for 168 yards, its second-best rushing total against Louisville since 1999. The best was UK’s 185 rushing yards in 2007.

• Rafael Little rushed for 151 of those 185 yards in 2007. He did so on 27 carries.

• Mike Hartline’s pass efficiency rating of 165.4 was the best against U of L by a UK quarterback since Andre Woodson posted a 173.9 in 2005 was 134.3. Hartline was 20 of 27 for 178 yards with a touchdown and an interception. In 2005, Woodson was 17 of 27 for 278 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. (U of L’s Justin Burke posted a rating of 143.5.) Hartline’s passer rating in last year’s game was 91.5.

• Kentucky averaged 5.09 yards per rush. The Cats have now won 12 straight games in which they have averaged at least five yards per carry.

• This was just UK’s fourth win in its last 20 games where it did not run at least 62 plays.

• Biggest play of the game may have been that third-and-10 screen pass from Hartline to Randall Cobb, who turned it into a 27-yard gain. That kept the drive alive that led to UK’s 24-20 lead.

• Kentucky had the ball for 1:25 of the third quarter. That was the quarter the Cats turned it over three straight times.

• UK offensive coordinator Randy Sanders did break his wrist during that sideline fall on a kickoff in the fourth quarter.

• Louisville converted nine of 17 third downs. But the Cards converted five of their first six, then went 4-of-11.

• U of L’s Victor Anderson rushed for 110 yards on 19 carries. That’s the seventh time in 14 games that Anderson has rushed for at least 90 yards.

Some comments from Louisville coach Steve Kragthorpe after UK’s 31-27 win over the Cards:

Opening:

I’m proud to walk out of here and say I’m the head coach. I thought they played their tail off today. We have nothing to hang our head about. I’m sick. I’m so sick right now that we didn’t win that gmae. The guys in the locker room are sick. But we will bounce back, we will rebound.

On locker room after game:

We have great guys on our football team. They have a lot of character and a lot of heart. We talked about leaving our heart out on the field and the guys did that today. They played until their tank was empty. There was unbelievable effort out on the field today.

On Trent Guy’s fumbled punt:

I told him not to fell bad. That play did not lose the game. There were a lot of plays where we had a chance to win the game and there was not one play you can point to and say that it was the determining factor. He’s a stud and I’ve got his back. Everything he’s been through and the way he played out there today, the heart tht he showed no one can say anything bad about him.

Zagsblog is reporting that Kyrie Irving, one of the top guard prospects for 2010, has eliminated Indiana, the school that at one time appeared to be the favorite.

Excerpt:

“Indiana is out,” said Sye Dean, Irving’s uncle. “We respect the program. We respect Tom Crean. We feel blessed that a University of that caliber would recruit Kyrie, but sometimes in regards to this recruiting process you have to eliminate certain programs. That’s part of the process.”

The Fayettville Observer reported that some close to the Duke program believe Irving will commit to the Blue Devils later this month. He is scheduled to visit Duke, Texas A&M, Kentucky (Oct. 15) and Georgia Tech. Rivals rates Irving as the ninth best overall prospect in the Class of 2010.

Meanwhile, Scout’s Evan Daniels reports that Chane Behanan, a 6-6 forward out of Ohio, will visit UK this weekend.

Continue reading ‘Report: Kyrie Irving eliminates Indiana’

My prediction for Saturday’s UK-U of L football game:

Big Blue Links for Friday:

• Mark Story of the Herald-Leader writes that Louisville fans are down, but not out.
• Chip Cosby of the H-L writes that less confusion means more production for UK offense.
• Jerry Tipton of the H-L blogs that UK was to meet with Doron Lamb.
• C.L. Brown of the Courier-Journal writes on the hometown antihero, U of L quarterback Justin Burke.
• Jody Demling of the C-J writes that it’s a big recruiting weekend for Kentucky.
• Brett Dawson of the C-J reports that UK cornerback Trevard Lindley is ready to take what’s thrown  his way.
• Dan Wiederer of the Fayetteville Observer believes Kyrie Irving could be headed to Duke.
• Tom Leach, voice of the Cats, talks to Paul Rogers, voice of the Cards.
• Larry Vaught of the Danville Advocate-Messenger writes that Randall Cobb is being compared to Derek Abney.
• Kenny Colston of the Kentucky Kernel writes that the rivalry has diminished because of Louisville’s slide.
• A Sea of Blue looks asks about he importance of this year’s UK-U of L game.
• Straitpinkie honors UK hockey’s calendar girls.